The Inter-Integrated Circuit standard (referred to as I2C, I2C, i2c, I-squared-C, I-two-C, or IIC) defines a multi-master serial single-ended computer bus invented by the Philips semiconductor division, today NXP Semiconductors, and generally used for attaching low-speed peripherals to a motherboard, embedded system, cellphone, or other digital electronic devices. The summary description of I2C included herein provides basic information about the I2C system and additional detailed information can be found in the “I2C-bus Specification and User Manual” (Rev. 5, 9 Oct. 2012) available at http://www.nxp.com/documents/user_manual/UM10204.pdf published by NXP Semiconductors and hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
As will be discussed in more detail below, I2C limits the amount of control a bus master can assert over the I2C bus and thus limits what transactions can be reliably performed using an I2C bus. I2C also has other limitations that may make it unsuitable for some applications. Accordingly, systems, apparatus, and methods for providing improved multi-master support within the I2C protocol are needed.